Inset: Nicholas Carrasquillo (Orange County Jail). Background: Scene of fatal road rage shooting in Orlando, Florida (WKMG/YouTube).
A Florida man faces decades behind bars after a jury has convicted him of second-degree murder in a road rage shooting that killed a father who was driving to his first day at a new job.
Nicholas Carrasquillo, 27, shot and killed 30-year-old David Alexzander Sligh in Orlando on Jan. 22, 2024. At trial, Carrasquillo took the stand on his own behalf to claim self-defense. According to a courtroom report from local NBC affiliate WESH, Carrasquillo testified he was driving to his grandmother’s house when Sligh cut him off. After a shouting match at a traffic light, Carrasquillo claimed Sligh blocked his car and wouldn’t let him leave even after the light turned green.
The defendant said he felt trapped, so he grabbed his gun and stepped out of his car. Sligh turned his head, which made Carrasquillo think he was grabbing for something so the defendant fired a warning shot into the ground — followed by five shots into Sligh’s car, killing him.
Sligh did not have a weapon.
Carrasquillo still insisted he fired in self-defense.
“I wasn’t the one driving recklessly that morning,” he said during his trial.
“OK, no, you were the person that shot somebody in the back of the head, right?” the prosecutor retorted.
“I’m the person who saved my life, sir,” Carrasquillo claimed.
But the jury didn’t buy his story and convicted him. A sentencing date has yet to be set.
